Air Batt Reel Combo Great For Any Crop

Air Batt Reel combo great for any crop COMBINES Headers 12-6-31 You can have all the advantages of an air reel plus the proven features of a conventional ban reel with the latest new add-on air reel from Crary Company, Fargo, N. Dak. The Crary air reel, which was introduced several years ago, uses air from a fan powered off the sickle drive shaft. The air goes through a flex-tube into a manifold mounted on the reel arms and out nozzles spaced 10 in. apart. The curtain of air they create pushes crop into the cutterbar and also blows "shattered" grain back onto the platform. "We figure it saves an average 2 bu. per acre in soybeans and small grains. The air reel works best in short, standing crops. The new finger pickup reel has the ability to pull in tall, viny crops or downed, tangled crops that are otherwise difficult to harvest with the air reel alone," says Wayne Lyon, Crary representative. The new reel has four batts that rotate around the air reel, using the large air manifold as its axis. The reel is fitted with four batts instead of the usual six because the air reel works together with the finger batts to pull in the crop. Having only four batts also improves visibility. Leroy Richard, sales manager, says the new air/batt reel works great in any crop. "With a 30-ft. head you sometimes get into a spot where half the grain is standing and half is down. This new head has the ability to harvest both the downed crop and the standing crop equally well." Crary made some changes to the air reel when they built the new combination reel. They replaced the two 12-in. fans with a single 16-in. dia. fan that spins at about 6,000 rpm's versus 4,000 rpm's for the old fans. The single fan produces as much or more airflow with less horsepower. The other change on the air reel is that the air nozzles are positioned closer to the cutterbar. On the old reel they were positioned 16 to 20 in. away while on the new combination reel they're only about 8 to 10 in. away. Nozzle positioning can be adjusted on the go with an electric actuator that rotates the center manifold. Rotation of the center manifold also changes the angle of the reel batts. Air flow volume can also be adjusted by opening and closing an electrically controlled baffle in the exhaust port. The reel is driven hydraulically and rotates around the center air manifold on four pinion and ring gear assemblies, riding on nylon rollers with steel roller bearing inserts. Richard says the combination air/batt reel requires only about 15-20 hp more horsepower than a conventional finger pickup reel. He notes that the air reel can be fitted to any combine without permanent modification. The new batt reel cannot, however, be fitted to existing Crary air reels. A 30-ft. air/batt reel sells for $3,821. The optional actuator, which tilts the air nozzles and changes the angle of the bans, sells for $189. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Crary Co., Box 1779, Fargo, N. Dak. 58107 (ph 800247-7335 or 701282-5520).

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